W.E. 306

[Dan/Panther]

How common are the W.E. H5 306's ?
D/P

[Ellen]

On Brunckhorst's commonality scale of 1 - 10, I'd say they are a "B₅".

[Dan/Panther]

I was going to say B4.......................or after..

How did you get the 5 below the B ?
D/P

[BDM]

How did you get the 5 below the B ?
D/P

The same way you get these Þ ® ­ß á ë  Î °

As far as 306 sets go, not sure?

[Dan/Panther]

What a bunch a wise asses....
Maybe you should ™ the idea..
D/P

[HobieSport]

D/P,

I don't know if the 306s are rare with a 5H dial  (I assume that's what you meant by "5H"?)  These are the four party line 300 types with the vacuum tube, correct? 

I have a '47 306b (pic below) but I haven't fiddled with it yet.  I have heard of them a few times so I assume they are not very rare.

It sure would be nice to find a list somewhere of how many of each model were built over the years, but I guess what really counts also is how many actually survived to the present.  Just my .02.

[Dan/Panther]

Matt;
Mine is dated 9-46, all matching numbers. The H5 is the case stamp. I haven't checked the dial number. It has the dial with 1-0 and operator, no otherl etters.
D/P

[Ellen]

How did you get the 5 below the B ?

^sup  _sub 

A up/down arrow

and

Code Select Expand

also

try

• other

• buttons

• to

http://see
what

happens

[McHeath]

Yer scarin' me Ellen.   

[HobieSport]

Yer scarin' me Ellen.   

Perhaps it's an ancient and magical form of Swamp Yankee computer code?

Sorry, D/P, we don't seem to be getting very far in trying to answer your original question about the 306s.  You having a 1946 and I having a 1947 makes me wonder if they were developed right after the war, being for budding businesses? Just a wild guess though.  Wish I knew more. 

Dennis, as I recall, you mentioned having a couple of 306s, is that correct?  Anyone else?

[Dan/Panther]

No problem, I'm learning something...
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

I may have had a 306 slip thru my fingers but at the time I didn't know they were model 306's.  I figured they were just 302's with a gas tube.  I removed the tubes, wired them as a single party set and sold them.  Gone.  They were thermoplastic sets and I don't even recall what the dates were.  I kept the tubes just for kicks.

[Sargeguy]

The horror!!!   I know a lot of guys do that.  But I think people are starting to appreciate some of the rarer varieties of 300 series phones lately.   Still when I was at the CT show trying to find a SC straight-line ringer for my 251 set, many members were dumbfounded why I wouldn't just convert it to a 302 and be done with it.  I think its important to preserve some of the rarer sets.  There are plenty of 302 H1s around that can be refurbished.  As far as I can tell 306s are uncommon.  The ones I have seen sell that are advertised as 306s usually fetch about $60-80.  I am sure many more sell for $20 as 302s or "old black rotery desk phone".

Here is a list I have compiled off the top of my head for prices of an attic fresh un-restored phones.  The list is based on memory of eBay auctions, the TCI and ATCA lists and the phone show in CT:

251-$30 (I have only seen one and that is how much it cost me)
302-$15-50
304-$12-$30
305-$30-$75
306-$75
354-$20-30
356-$20-30
401-$75
410-$30-75
440-$80
442-$80-100
465-$70-100

[jsbrugg]

I'm a newbie here and made my first purchase of what I thought was a 302 about two weeks ago.  The listing on eBay was "Antique Western Electric Phone" and it looked like a 302 to my untrained eye.
As I was waiting for it to arrive, I was looking at the schematics and browsing through the forums so I would have some idea what to expect under the hood.  To my surprise (the condition of the packaging was horrifying), I opened the thing up and everything looked to be intact and in relatively good shape except for one wire that had a broken connector.  There was a tube attached to that broken connector just sitting on top of the condenser and I didn't recall seeing anything like that in any of the schematics or photos of the 302.  After some scrounging around, I saw the H5 code by the exit port for the wall cable, so I figured out it was a 306 from 1952.  I'm not sure exactly what is different with a party line phone, so I searched on the forum here and saw that the "electron tube" in my phone doesn't look anything like the paper covered tubes I've seen in the pictures.  Mine is a cylinder about 2.5" x .75" and has some kind of wax-like coating on it.  There are cloth covered wires about 3 inches long on each end and I can barely make out a "295" on the side of it.  I've got pictures, but I'll have to get them off the camera and figure out how to post them here.  I'm pretty excited to get started on cleaning it up, but I've got a few questions before I start.

Does anyone have an idea what the little tube is? - I will follow up with photos
Do I have to convert it from a party line phone somehow to actually use it?
The dial-card holder is missing.  Is that something that can be found at the online parts stores?
There's a little metal insert in the 41A bell.  Any ideas what that is for?
I'm planning on taking it all apart and cleaning it up using the tips I've seen here.  Are there any important things I need to be aware of before I start disassembling?  Specifically, how far can/should I go in taking things apart for cleaning?

Here's the inside of the phone.  It looks to have some little moldy spots on it.  Note the metal insert in the bell.  I believe that the broken clip at L2 is where the tube should connect.

http://tinyurl.com/l3zchb  ( dead link 1-6-18 )

This is the "tube".  You can make out the 295... if you see it in fullscreen.

http://tinyurl.com/mpqzf8  ( dead link 1-6-18 )

[Phonesrfun]

The yellow tubular shaped thing sitting on the regular condenser is a capacitor (newer word for condenser) from an old radio or some such electronic item from pretty long ago.  It is not original for the phone.  Judging by how it is hooked to the black wire to the ringer, it appears that it is being used in lieu of the condenser that comes with the phone.  Perhaps the original is shot.

The bracket that it is next to indicates that the phone was once wired for cold cathode glass tube, but it seems to be gone.  Perhaps if you do hook the loose capacitor lead to L1 it will ring.

The insert to the ringer gong is a resonator to make the ringer sound different from another phone sitting next to it.

Good luck on your recent find.

-Bill